The OCZ Octane Review (512GB)
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 23, 2011 12:00 PM ESTFinal Words
The Indilinx Everest is a surprisingly competent controller. When OCZ first mentioned its work on the controller to me I wrote it off as yet another low performing alternative that wasn't worth consideration. Based on its performance in our Storage Bench tests, I'd say the OCZ Octane is easily able to hold its own against SandForce based drives. The obvious benefit is you get solid performance regardless of the type of data you're moving around - everything from text to compressed movies can move at the same rate. The benefit is also a downside. SandForce drives tend to have very good average write amplification (0.60 - 0.70) thanks to their real time compression/dedupe of commonly used files. The result is relatively consistent performance over time, something that more traditional SSDs can't offer nearly as well. With TRIM enabled this should be a moot point, but it's still an advantage that no one else can duplicate without SandForce's technology.
Write amplification is a concern, although I suspect it'll only be a problem for enterprise workloads. The bigger issue is that to address these limitations, OCZ will likely have to do a significant redesign of the Octane's firmware architecture. OCZ did let me know that an even faster Octane H drive was due out in the not-too-distant future. It's possible that the Octane H may address my concerns here. I'll find out in due time.
It's clear that the Octane is a powerful competitor, what matters now is its reliability. In the past OCZ has been at the mercy of third party controller makers to fix bugs in their firmware, but now with Indilinx in house I wonder how things will change. I believe OCZ needs a good 12 months of an Intel or Samsung-like track record to really build confidence in its products. The brand definitely took a hit with all of the SandForce BSOD issues (and the wild goose chase interim "solutions" to the problem). OCZ has the opportunity to start fresh with Octane and there can be no finger pointing this time. The controller, firmware and drive are all produced in house. I don't expect the drive to be perfect in every system, but it had better be very close to it.
The good news is that if OCZ is able to deliver reliable and compatible firmware, the Octane is worth owning. It performs at the top of its class, and it's priced more aggressively than OCZ's SandForce based drives. My standard recommendation for any new SSD still applies: wait and see. Let others (myself included, the Octane will be going into a work machine starting today) be the beta testers. If the waters look safe, only then should you jump in.
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jwilliams4200 - Friday, November 25, 2011 - link
You need to carefully check the dates on that data. It takes a while for this kind of data to trickle in, so you are mostly looking at returns that were sold about a year ago.PubFiction - Saturday, November 26, 2011 - link
I don't think anandtechs claims about a turn around took place in the last year.OCZ has a low rank in most areas it plays in. This reminds me of the fiasco with the different nand in the same product for OCZ and it seemed that alot of people were unhappy with how anandtech was dealing with that. IMO OCZ still has a bad name and I do not touch anything they make unless it is significantly less expensive and reviews fine. I guess the turn around is that OCZ was worse than terrible back then. The amazing thing is that being a bad company seems to pay off because OCZ is aquiring major players in multiple fields meaning they must be making money I guess.
jwilliams4200 - Saturday, November 26, 2011 - link
Sigh. I did not say that OCZ stats will look better for parts sold after April 1, 2011. They may very well look worse. I was just pointing out that the data he was looking at may not reflect what he thought it did. For one thing, it will include very little of the SF22XX BSOD issues.faster - Friday, November 25, 2011 - link
What a great article. Not only a good technology review, but a great story about the transformation of OCZ. The perspective of this article could only be told by Anand because it was his own story and experience. This was a fantastic piece of writing that gripped me, interested me, and left me feeling good about OCZ. Great job!ericore - Friday, November 25, 2011 - link
This drive is very slow and relies poorly if you compare it with the Plextor px-m3s. In fact, that drive is probably the best SSD on the market yet Anandtech has never reviewed a single Plextor drive. It comes with a 5 year warranty, and uses a marvel controller. The specs for the 128GB alone are Random Read (IOPS 4K) 70,000, Random Write (IOPS 4K), 50,000 which hands down owns this drive and probably the Crucial M4 variant as well. Yet there has not been a single Plextor review, sadface. Note, Plextor also does a 20 hour burn-in on all drives.Also I remember reading the octane uses exclusively designed nand scaled for capacity at the cost of reliability therefore having much shorter lifespan than competition.
This is a positive step for OCZ though.
Beenthere - Friday, November 25, 2011 - link
It would be useful to see a proper review of the Plextor PX-M3 SSD. Perhaps Plextor hasn't shipped any review drives yet as I don't see any online reviews for them.Fiah - Saturday, November 26, 2011 - link
This reputable Dutch website reviewed one (I take their reviews as seriously as I do anandtechs)http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=nl&tl...
They're calling it the fastest SSD yet
Beenthere - Saturday, November 26, 2011 - link
The Dutch site appears to have tested an MP2 model not the M3S - unless Plextor is using odd model numbering in Europe?The test data showed the MP2 to be faster in some benches and slower in others. I think we'll need to see Anandtech's or StorageReview.com results to get a clear picture on SSD performance for the M3S.
I'm not so interested in speed as I am in reliability and compatibility. I have no interest in being an Un-Paid beta tester for PC companies.
Beenthere - Saturday, November 26, 2011 - link
It turns out that the MP2 is not the M3S. SR reviewed the MP2 and it's a middle-of-the pack SSD based on performance. The M3S may actually be slower based on the specs Plextor is quoting. The M3S may be geared more toward enterprise?http://www.storagereview.com/plextor_pxm2p_ssd_rev...
http://www.plextoramericas.com/index.php/ssd/px-m2...
http://www.plextoramericas.com/index.php/ssd/px-m3...
Questor - Sunday, November 27, 2011 - link
I echo the echo about seeing more smaller capacity SSD reviews. I personally have one 120 GB Intel , one 128 GB Samsung 470 and two 128 GB Plextor SSDs. I am very happy with them but would love to see all the technical stuff you folks here and Anandtech extract from this gear.I am also interested in percentage of drive sizes shipping to consumers (IE: what capacitie(s) are consumers buying most and ratio of brand to units shipped for sale, if at all possible).
I have stayed away from OCZ like it was the next coming of the plague. As a matter of fact, 1) I posted recently on another article I wouldn't touch OCZ until they could make a reliable drive and prove it and...
2) When someone around me started talking Sandforce and OCZ I would run.
Your 12 month idea of watching and waiting for reliability results is right along the lines of my thinking.
Other than those requests, thanks for a great article. It was so interesting, the wife is annoyed I stayed up to finish reading! =O I had better order those roses, come up with a real good verse for the card and get the dinner reseverations ready at some place we can't afford! If I didn't leep doing this, I could afford some 512 GB drives!